Widening range, rockets strike Be'ersheba kindergarten

The Jerusalem Post reports:

Palestinian terrorists on Tuesday night fired at least two rockets at Beersheba, adding some 187,000 residents of the largest city in the Negev into the ever-widening range of the rockets attacks.

Ashdod wakes up to a new reality

There were no reports of casualties in the attack but one of the rockets landed in a kindergarten, causing damage. Rescue forces were searching for the impact site of another rocket.

Shortly afterwards the army announced that The IAF had bombed the Grad launcher as well as the terrorist cell responsible for the Beersheba rocket attacks. Military sources reported that the targets were hit.

Meanwhile, one person was lightly wounded by shrapnel when two Grad rockets impacted in the center of Ashkelon. The rocket caused extensive damage to nearby businesses and vehicles.

Earlier, Hamas-fired rockets landed in Ashdod and Ashkelon, where two people were killed in attacks Monday.

Palestinian terrorists continued to rocket southern Israel Tuesday afternoon, bringing the total number of rockets fired from the Gaza Strip to over 30 since morning.

Two Kassam rockets that were fired at the Eshkol region landed in open areas and did not cause wounded or damage. A rocket fired at a Sha'ar Hanegev kibbutz crashed into the communal dining room and caused damage but no casualties.

Meanwhile, emergency forces were searching for the impact sites of some four Kassam rockets that were fired at the area south of Ashkelon. There were no reports of casualties or damage in those attacks.

Several rockets also fell in the Sderot area late Tuesday afternoon, causing neither casualties nor damage.

Earlier, the Sdot Negev region absorbed two rocket attacks. There were no reports of wounded or damage.

On Tuesday morning a rocket landed in Kiryat Malachi, the first time that the town was hit by a projectile fired from Gaza. Several people suffered shock in the attack, though there were no reports of casualties or damage.

Earlier, a Sderot man was lightly wounded when a Kassam fired at the city hit a house. The building sustained damage in the attack.

The rockets were fired as Israel let some 100 trucks carrying humanitarian supplies from Jordan, Turkey and international aid groups into the Gaza Strip via the Kerem Shalom border crossing.

In addition, five new ambulances donated by Turkey were allowed into the Strip.

Earlier Tuesday, three Kassams and at least 10 mortar shells pounded the Eshkol region. No casualties were reported in the attack, though one house sustained damage.

On Monday, three Israelis were killed in Ashkelon, Ashdod and Nahal Oz as over 80 rockets and mortar shells hit southern Israel.

In response to the barrages, Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Tuesday declared a "special situation" for communities located within 30 kilometers from the Gaza Strip.

The move, the first of its kind, would give the security establishment authority to close factories, cancel conferences and events, and to conduct other civilian activities. It would allow the security establishment to play an active role in city affairs alongside local authorities.

The cabinet is required to approve the special status over the next two days, as it has already done for Gaza belt communities.

Schools were to remain closed within the 30-kilometer range on Tuesday, including in Ashdod, Kiryat Gat, Ofakim, Sderot and Kiryat Malachi.

Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilna'i told Israel Radio on Tuesday that Gaza-belt communities were well prepared for further rocket attacks, and called on residents of the South to heed instructions from authorities.

Monday's Ashdod fatality was identified as Irit Sheetrit, 36. She was killed Monday night when a Grad-type rocket struck a bus stop where she had run for cover. Four other were hurt in the attack, one was in serous condition.

Warrant Officer Lotfi Nasraladin, 38, from the Druse village of Daliat el-Carmel, was killed when rockets struck near Nahal Oz. Five others were wounded in the attack, two seriously.

Following continued IAF attacks on Hamas targets in the Strip, Palestinian terrorists intensified their efforts, firing on Ofakim and Yavne. One person was moderately wounded in the attack on Ofakim.

Earlier Monday, an Israeli construction worker identified as Hani al-Mahdi, 27, of the Beduin town of Aro'er in the Negev, was killed and over a dozen others were wounded when a Grad-model Katyusha hit a construction site in Ashkelon.

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Posted in: Hamas,Islamic Terror,Islamo Fascism,Israel,Terrorists